King Valley

The King Valley runs south from Wangaratta into the foothills of the Alps, and its story is one of migration: Italian families, many from the Veneto and Friuli, settled here after the Second World War growing tobacco, and when that industry collapsed in the 1990s they replanted with the grapes they knew. The result is a district built on prosecco, sangiovese, nebbiolo, barbera and pinot grigio rather than the usual Australian varieties, with cellar doors run by the Pizzini, Dal Zotto, Chrismont and other families along what is marketed as the Prosecco Road. Restaurants serve accordingly, altitude rises steadily up the valley, and the Alps close the southern end.

History

Since the 1880s the valley has grown hops and tobacco alongside dairy and beef cattle, a narrow-gauge railway from Wangaratta to Whitfield opened in 1889, and a government tobacco research farm moved to Whitfield in 1902. Chinese migrants came from the goldfields in the middle of the 19th century as market gardeners, tobacco growers and merchants, and after the Second World War many Italian, Yugoslav and Spanish migrants set up tobacco farms; as the industry declined from the mid-1980s to its end in 2006, farmers turned to chestnuts, berries and grapes, and Italian families made the valley known for sangiovese, nebbiolo and barbera (Wikipedia, King Valley).

What you'll find

• The Italian varieties - prosecco, sangiovese and nebbiolo cellar doors.
• The family wineries - businesses run by the migrant families who planted them.
• The valley landscape - vineyards rising toward the alpine foothills.
• The food - Italian-influenced restaurants attached to the wineries.

When to go

March to May for vintage and autumn colour, September to November for spring; summer is hot in the lower valley. Festivals such as La Dolce Vita fill particular weekends. Cellar doors are mostly open daily but close by late afternoon.

Things to know

Cellar doors are spread over forty kilometres of valley and need a driver or tour. Accommodation is limited, mostly in Whitfield and Milawa. The upper valley roads are winding, and mobile coverage drops out in places.

Nearby

Milawa and its gourmet producers lie north; Mount Buffalo rises east.